#11 Dickinson Rolls Past Kenyon in NCAA Tourney Opener

(Carlisle, Pa.) – The #11-ranked Dickinson College men's lacrosse team opened the 2012 NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Tournament with a 15-6 win over visiting Kenyon College on Wednesday afternoon.

The Red Devils had some control problems early, but sorted out the attack to take a 3-0 lead at the end of the first period. Senior Bobby Kingsley (Bethesda, Md./St. Alban's) put the Devils on the board, scoring off a Ward Gruppo (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Prep) assist at the 9:29 mark.

Sophomore Brian Cannon (Reisterstown, Md./Loyola-Blakefield) tallied off a pass from junior Christian Beitel (Newtown, Conn./Newtown) with 5:18 to play in the quarter before Kingsley returned the favor, feeding Gruppo for another tally at the 1:31 mark.

Beitel found the net off an assist from Matt Cherry (Bryn Mawr, Pa./Radnor) to stretch the lead to 4-0, in the opening minutes for the second. Will Lowe dodged for a goal with an even 10 minutes on the clock, but Dickinson answered with a pair to take a 6-1 advantage into halftime.

Cannon scored with an assist from Sam Greenberg (Owings Mills, Md./McDonogh) and Gruppo fed Kingsley for his second of the day at the 5:16 mark.

Lowe struck again to cut the margin to 6-2 at the 11:14 mark of the third quarter. The Devils then outscored the Lords 5-2 for a 11-4 lead, heading into the final quarter of play. A penalty at the end of the period gave possession to Dickinson to start the fourth quarter. Greenberg buried a shot off an assist from Will Scott (Emmaus, Pa./Emmaus) just 11 seconds into the period.

Mackie Avis scored with an assist from Chris Pappalardo to make the score, 12-5, with 10:02 remaining in the game. Scott scored off the ensuing face-off as long pole defender Jack O'Connor (New Vernon, N.J./Delbarton) picked-up the ground ball and fed the sophomore just eight seconds later.

First-year Tyler White (Philadelphia, Pa./Penn Charter) added an unassisted goal with 6:18 to play and Greenberg finished another assist from Scott to put the Devils in front, 15-5. Lowe closed out the scoring with another tally of his own at 4:05 mark for the final of 15-6.

Kingsley and Beitel each finished with three goals and an assist while Scott tallied three assists and a goal on the day. Greenberg added two goals and an assist, and Cannon scored twice as well. Gruppo and Cherry each finished with two assists and long-stick midfielder, Palladino, recorded a goal and an assist to go with four ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers.

Senior Chip Murray (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) won a remarkable 12 of 18 face-offs and controlled eight ground balls. Junior goaltender Greg Hanley (Laurel Hollow, N.Y./Cold Spring Harbor) made three saves and controlled four ground balls. Max Pawk (Sewickley, Pa./Sewickley) came on to make a pair of saves on the final 5:34.

Lowe finished with three goals to lead the Lords as they finish 10-5 on the year. The #11-ranked Red Devils improve to 15-3 overall. They will host the winner of the Cabrini College-Eastern University match-up, which will be played Wednesday evening. The Second Round game will be Saturday afternoon. The time will be determined on Thursday.